The Fall
by 26Chapters
Summary: Abbie is conflicted by her feelings, and Ichabod thinks about his for her and Katrina. Unrelated to the finale.
1. Chapter 1

**myInfirmary and Cadence, this story is JUST for the two of you. And babe, seriously, as symbiotic as our relationship is, you REALLY don't have to review just because no one did, I mean honestly darling, just read and love. Anyway I wrote this ages ago, before episode eleven I think, and I wasn't sure whether to post it or not, but after 'ICHABOD LEFT WHO IN PURG?', I just want to ease your pain. I should've listened to Go First-Rose Cousins for inspiration, just thought of it after I was done, and you were right, Waiting For Superman is growing in my skin. Random, because I'm a maniac who loves you.**

She can't stop the scream from coming out of her mouth, she lands too heavily on her left side, and from so far up to ignore the agonising fire rapidly spreading through her entire body. When she tries to move, the pain increases, and she thinks she's broken a rib. But that's not it, because she knows how a broken bone feels like.

Abbie looks at the bed, a mere metre away from her, but it's too far and too high up for her to reach. She swears angrily, her eyes darting to the last cupboard rack from which she fell. She's climbed up the cupboard before, because her private collection of Sci-Fi books is stashed deep behind the contents of the cupboard. She's never fallen before though. She hears the door opening wildly-and her heart contracts in fear.

'Abbie?' the terror filled voice of Ichabod sounds. She relaxes, it's only him. Somewhere between dressing in her sleeping shirt (the shorts were too deep under the laundry basket to retrieve) and climbing up the cupboard, she forgot that she'd left him in the sitting room, that once again, he'd be spending a night in her home.

'Abbie?' he calls again, and she realises that he must not see her where she is.

'I'm here,' she says weakly. The fall has really hurt her, and she can't-more possibly doesn't want to-move. He comes around to find her slumped ridiculously on the floor.

'Abbie!' he exclaims, rushing to her side, and touching a hand to her arm. The contact transmits heat onto her already heating up skin, it's painfully uncomfortable.

'Crane, don't touch me,' she tries to move her arm away, but it only hurts her more. She didn't mean to sound rude, it must be the pain. But as she looks at him, his face, his deep look of concern and the need to help in his eyes, her heart stops, melts, and picks up an uneven beat. Maybe she should be rude that he stays away from her, this, she doesn't need. Not when she's told herself over and over that all they are now, is all they'll ever be.

Her words do nothing to him, if anything, they make him more concerned, 'Are you all right?' he draws his hand away, only to bring it to her forehead, his palm making contact with the skin.

'Crane,' she protests quickly, angry with herself for not being able to push his hand away, 'don't touch me.' All the contact he makes, makes her physically uncomfortable, and there's the other reason.

He ignores her, 'Are you hurt?' As he asks, he brings his other hand behind her neck to elevate her head. She wants to say yes, to tell him that her body is really in pain, and maybe then he'll stop being so worried and so close to her. She wants to say yes, but she's frustrated with him for being here, and sincere, and caring so much for her, yet so unattainable to her. She can't say yes, because he'll only handle her more delicately, and that, her womanly heart definitely doesn't need.

'Go away Crane.' She's seconds away from crying, because he's changing her heart rhythm, and she wants him to hold her close until the pain goes away.

'Abbie,' he calls softly, her name sounding like a last precious breath from his mouth, 'let me help you.'

He knows, she can tell he knows what is going on inside her, that really it has nothing to do with pain or the fall anymore. It's about him. And her.

'No,' she shuts hey eyes to block his face out, 'just go away.'

There's a world of reasons why she's chosen to be detached from him, more so for always pushing aside anything that lead them, her, to unsafe territory. This, the way she is yearning for him right now, should never be a thing in her life, she is Abigail Mills, and she doesn't long in silence for men. There's a slant line between what she says (and what she doesn't) and what she wants. And sadly, what she thinks of him, what he wants from their partnership. She will not upset the balance, all for a moment of weakness.

'I will not leave you in such a state,' he tells her quietly, the hand on her neck moving slightly, 'I can see you are in pain. What can I do for you?'

He should leave, that's what she wants, because he's hurting her so much for by being with her. And the last question bears more answer than question.

'Crane,' she opens her eyes, 'please. Just go back to sleep.'

And there it is, she's put herself into the words she's spoken. Ignoring her plea, Ichabod adjusts his arms, placing them under her, and gathers her in his arms. Her arms fall limply against her, because the little strength she did have, disappeared the moment her face touched his chest, and his scent was deep within her nostrils. Like this, she has no power to push him away or ask anything of her, it's too much.

'Please put me down,' she whispers into him, failing terribly to not hold lightly his shirt.

'I shall.' He gets up on his feet, pulling her closer to him, and taking one big step to her bed. Why he's doing this, placing her on the bed as though she might break, and easing her gently out of his arms, she can't allow herself to think about, not now.

'Thank you,' she tells him as she lets go of his shirt. She thinks he'll leave. He doesn't. Instead, he sits, their bodies touching. She's long forgotten that she's in pain, that her left side is partly numb (and she'll need powerful painkillers later, maybe an x-ray), his presence takes all that away from her.

'I can't force you to allow me to live with you,' he leans his face centimetres from hers, 'but I do always want to be here for you.' He leans a little way more, his forehead hitting softly against hers, 'Abbie...' It's a desperate whisper, asking all sorts of things that couldn't be possible for them. If that isn't a declaration on his part, then she doesn't know what would be. The problem is that she thinks she might just be making this up.

'Crane,' she places a hand between their faces, pushing his back, 'Please leave.'

It must be that she's crying, or he notes the anguish in her voice, that makes him get up and leave. She can still feel his breath on her face, and the tears are gushing out in a waterfall minutes after he's closed her door behind him.

**Cade, I so know you understand this fic, you know how I hate emotional pieces right? I'm sorry to anyone reading if it wasn't clear, but like I said, it's for myInfirmary and Cadence.**


	2. Chapter 2

**KATRINA**

It's not that he stopped loving her, he just started loving someone else. It was the kind of love that had the attributes of a thief, it had crept up on him, catching him at an unawares time, and binding him so tight that he had no other choice, but to give in to it.

Their scores, hers and the other, had been perfectly uneven from the beginning. She was his wife, and the other was a fellow Witness, his feelings for the both of them couldn't be more separate and apart, not to mention their persons in person.

While for her, he cherished a deep profound emotion that held sub-emotions enough to fill a drought, for the other, he held a respect and loyalty that couldn't be broken by anything. They have been different from the start, their statures, their manners of speaking to him, their actions, it was a wonder he didn't realise that the other was more suited for him.

No, he didn't stop loving her, he just started realising that what she was, didn't appeal to him anymore. None of what attracted him to her had decent legs to stand on after all. Everything diminished gradually, until he understood that his love for her didn't disappear, it went away with all that she stopped being in his eyes.

It's not that he removed her from his heart, he just didn't want her to possess his heart anymore. For one, she wasn't nearly as worthy as the other was of his heart, and for another, the roots belonging to her that had been vined around his heart, he couldn't feel any longer, they'd loosened somehow.

It wasn't her fault, that she wasn't chosen as his fellow Witness, because then he'd be spending all that time with her, and he'd discover more things about her that would blow his mind away (isn't that what the other always said?), and he'd forever feel a slave in her presence, succumbing to her will without argument.

No, it wasn't her fault, especially that he loved someone else.

**To be fair, it is her fault. Had she not cast a spell on him, he wouldn't have awoken right into Abbie's arms. (Who said I'm so glad she did...I don't dislike Katrina)**

**YESSSS! Abbie -100, Katrina - -100**


	3. Chapter 3

**ABBIE**

It's not that he wanted to love her, because how do you love someone else when in your heart there was another. He didn't plan on replacing his wife with her, that action took place all on its own, never once consulting him or giving him a hint in that direction.

She, unlike his wife, didn't coax him, or shield him from the truth, no matter how ugly it was. Their differences, hers and his wife's, were clear-cut from the moment he set his eyes on her, and nowhere in his mind did he ever contemplate the thought of shifting their positions in his heart. Although the differences were bright, he never dared compare them, for the fear that he'd find much in fault in his wife. She was a lot more than his wife had been in his time, so really, it didn't surprise him all that much when he wasn't in her company, and he couldn't stop her coming into his thoughts.

No, he didn't want to love her, because she challenged him as a man, she didn't make him feel a lesser man, but she was the kind that could defeat him if she wanted. And also, he needed to remain strong when she was weak, and carry them both in the most perilous of times. Of course she didn't need his strength, but he wanted her to have it anyway, a double portion.

It's not at all that he let her have his heart, because really, she didn't seem to want it. Theirs was a different kind of bond, the kind that bound their souls and spirits together for the common goal, unlike the kind that bound his body and spirit to his wife for the shared sentiment of desire.

It wasn't her fault that they spent waking moments together, and how easily he knew (and loved) things about her without trying. She wasn't to blame for his addiction to her company, or the many other things she'd gotten him to love, just because she loved them. No, none of it was her fault, especially that he loved her.

**Of course it's her fault, she can't just be super awesome and not expect that he falls head over heels for her. Way to go Abbie!**


End file.
